Airport Manager Honored With Prestigious Statewide Award
Thursday, November 13th, 2025
The manager of the Dalton Municipal Airport was recently honored for his contributions to airports across the state of Georgia. Andrew Wiersma was named the 2025 recipient of the Georgia Airport Association's (GAA) James Stogner Award. The award is presented each year by the GAA's board of directors to an airport professional who demonstrates an outstanding level of support for Georgia's airports and related professions. Wiersma was honored for his work with the Georgia State Legislature to earn new funding for infrastructure improvements across Georgia.
Caption: Andrew Wiersma (right) receives the James Stogner Award from Dalton Airport Authority Chairman Danny Morgan (left)
Wiersma was announced as the Stogner Award recipient at the GAA's annual conference in October, but Wiersma was unable to attend. Dalton Airport Authority Chairman Danny Morgan accepted on his behalf and presented him with the award this week at the authority's monthly meeting.
"I was blown away by the nomination, to tell you the truth, because I was nominated by the airport director, Greg Kelly, at Savannah International Airport. He actually knew (James) Stogner personally, so for him to nominate me, that really, really meant a lot to me," Wiersma said. "Usually, people get nominated for that award after a full career. They may they may be retired or they may be close to retirement. So, for me to get that was was pretty special."
In addition to his duties managing the Dalton Municipal Airport, Wiersma has been active with the GAA. He served as the organization's president in 2022 and 2023 and also served as the organization's legislative chairman for three years from 2022-24, working with state leaders to petition for airport funding. During that time, he was instrumental in earning the highest level of state appropriations for airport aid that the organization has ever seen from the legislature.
"That's really helped airports across the state in the last several years with being able to find a lot of infrastructure renewal projects," Wiersma said.
The award is named for the late James Stogner who served as the deputy general manager of the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta for more than 20 years. He passed away in 2015.
The GAA also presented a special recognition plaque to an aircraft owner based at the Dalton Municipal Airport for his service as a pilot for the organization's 2024 Legislator Flight Tour in which state representatives and senators were flown to different municipal airports across the state for tours of the facilities and presentations on infrastructure needs.
